Headlights.... Winter Driving Advice

do they chuck dirt over your car then?

Yep, I use the M60 daily for work so I dont wash my GP often especially when we have snow/ice as the salt they put down just makes it a waste of time. Good reminder about the light/indicators etc so I`ll be cleaning mine with warm soapy water now ready for the morning

You don't live far from me, I wonder.....

Nobody likes a smartalec, unless it's me, in which case I do.

It can be a bit of a vicous circle if you think about it. You pull out of a side road with your windows covered in crap and don't see the car coming with it's headlights covered in crap. And then you're IN the crap.

should make it last a bit longer (not that fiats are really known for rust)

I just put my headlights on while I'm warming the car up and scraping the ice off ALL the windows, this melts the ice off the lights. I also wipe the lights with a cloth and some foaming cleaner if they're really dirty I wipe the rear lights by hand. Easy! and this is coming from a person who hadn't seen ice on a car until 2 years ago! It's common sense really isn't it?

Which reminds me, [Oh no, it's another anecdote], I bought a new Uno 60DS in 1989 and after about 6 months someone clipped the offside front wing causing a slight kink on the arch. After a few weeks there was a small 1" by half and inch patch of light rust. Because of a screw up by my Insurance broker it was never repaired. When I finally got rid of it 10 years and 120,000+ miles later, it was no worse and there was no other corrosion that I was aware of.

Nice one matey. Unforunately, as a wise man once said, "There's nothing common about common sense." and you and a few others will remain the exception and not the rule.

Thats the thing sometimes the rust will sit there and not move (like on my old Fiesta (under the rear light) and other times it will spread rapidly..

Very true

In street lights my cinq makes no differance to the light in front of me - even with cleaned glass LOL!

My car's filthy, got it planned in for this weekend I really need my HIDs fitted (with appropriate new light units and dual washer bottle pump for washer jets ), can't see anything with my lights I have a scraper with a sponge on so use that for a quick wipe of the lights after scraping ice

[quote=The Beard;1892240]You don't live far from me, I wonder.....


Just off Broadway Chadderton - join the M60 ` car park`
and come of at Sharston near MAN airport...then back again at night...sometimes i get lucky and find 5th gear !.......aka rat race !

and you?

There is a legal requirement to ensure windscreen, lights and numberplate are kept clean/clear. Every so often, plod goes on the offensive round here & pulls motorists - I believe it is a £30 fine.
Saw one the other morning, woman driving along desperately trying to see through a semi-misted porthole.
So you're going to be late for work? The roads are covered in snow & ice. Better to be late for work than early for your funeral.
Insurance companies look for any loophole to avoid expensive payouts & if you're involved in a crash & your screen is filthy it'll be just the excuse they need. There are more accidents in winter, obvious causes are icy roads but there are also problems because the sun is very low in the sky mornings and afternoons, having a dirty screen would/could totally block your view if the sun caught it (or even headlights at night)
Of course, the legalities of having a clean number plate are obviously so the speed cameras can photo your plate but if your car was nicked, how is anyone to recognise your motor?
At the moment, I'm cleaning my bus every day - a filthy bus reflects badly on me as a driver and also on my employer. I wouldn't want to get on a bus that was dirty filthy, if the driver doesn't care how clean his vehicle is, will he care as much about his passengers?

too true...

I scrape the lights, indicators, tail clusters and all the windows (except the rear, the rear heat usually deals with that one) and both external mirrors. lights are dirty then I have a cloth in the car for just giving them a wipe off. I havent had to scrape a number plate due to snow and ice, and if I had to I would probably abandon efforts!

Been cleaning lights and windows on a daily basis for the last few weeks, made a point of doing it before coming down from scotland, 160 miles on unfamilar roads with minimal street lighting (A74 and A68) had me s***ing bricks to coin a phrase. Yes those of you who are used to living in the backside of beyond will say I was possibly unduly worried but it was minus 7 at one point and driving an road I don't know with no street lights and mainly only my dipped beams to light the way was not something I relished. Especially as most of my travel on major roads after dark is in the south where they've heard of this magical device known as the street light. Tbf in the end my eyes acclimatised i set the head lamps a couple of notches higher to increase the range and I relaxed into it just beating my own grove at around the speed limit checking the zoomed in sat nav screen occasionally for severe corners, which handily do show up.

been keeping an eye on numberplates, but lights are no problem, pull back stalk and the headlights are sprayed with water and the wipers cleans the muck off

my car desperately needs a clean, it's currently a browny colour from muddy back roads and with black wing mirrors and bonnet from my travels on motorways. the bilt hamber autobalm seems to be doing a good job though as it's easily coming off, and it's very well protected, i'm waiting till it warms up then i'll chuck ye olde hose pipe underneath to make sure all the salty moisture retaining muck comes off!